(03-02-2016 11:58 PM)Jlouis Wrote: People wanted the 15c, not because there was a platform ready for it.

I read somewhere on the internet that the HP-15C is THE MOST POPULAR scientific calculator of all time. I have my own theory as to why this it the case. Feel free to disagree with any of these points.

1. The HP-15C has ALL of its primary functions displayed on the keyboard where they are easy to find. (Not buried in menus). Referencing the manual is almost never required.
2. The HP-15C was one of the first, if not the first calculator to handle complex numbers as a data type allowing you to manipulate them like ordinary numbers. (+,-,X,/, Trig functions, and Log functions all work on complex numbers)
3. The HP-15C was one of the first calculators to handle matrix operations.
4. With user written programs, the HP-15C could solve almost any type of scientific problem. (Even those that were not already included in the calculator.)
5. With it's low power CMOS design, and LCD display the HP-15C (Entire Voyager line) has incredible battery life. (years of reliable dependable operation)
6. The rugged design, great tactile keyboard feel, and landscape layout made the entire voyager line very popular.
7. The HP-15C has the right mix (sweet spot) of complexity and ease of use.

I believe that for these reasons (and probably more that I didn't think of) the HP-15C became so popular in the realm of scientific calculators.

Sincerely, Barry

Barry, all you wrote is true, specially number 6.

That's why more than 20, 000 people asked to bring it back.

Indeed, the 15c IS the most popular scientific calculator of all times.

And, the 12c IS the oldest technical equipment still in production, almost 35 years!!

I have gotten complaints about the action bar, and I will make it optional in the next release. I hope that clears things up.

In case anyone is wondering why I added the action bar in Free42 for Android in the first place: most (all?) recent Android devices lack a menu button. For backward compatibility, most (all?) of them do provide another way of activating the menu, by long-pressing one of the buttons that do still exist. The problem is that this new way of accessing the menu is completely non-obvious.

I'd been getting questions, with steadily increasing frequency over time, from people asking how to access the menu. More troubling were questions about how to import or export programs, or select alternative skins. Of course it's hard to figure out how to do these things if the OS is hiding a crucial part of the user interface from you!

So I added the action bar. Because that's the officially blessed way of designing a discoverable user interface for Android apps now.

I was surprised by the number of complaints that this change caused. A bit miffed at some of them, too, I must confess. Free42 is unusable garbage all of a sudden? People are deducting stars from the app's rating because of a few pixels? My God, what would happen if I ever introduced an actual bug that made the app actually less usable? I must confess I'm scratching my head over some of this furor.

But c'est la vie. I'm not going to abandon Free42 because of a few ungracious people. There are tens of thousands of people who use the app without being insensitive or rude to me. Also, maintaining this app is something I love to do and take pride in, even if I don't have nearly enough time to work on it (has it really been more than a year since the last release? Daaang.)

One thing I should mention: I'm not a regular visitor to the HP Museum Forum any more. Maybe that will change, but this is the first time I've visited in a long time. I do, however, have a Google Group, dedicated to Free42 and nothing but Free42. While I wouldn't suggest that people *shouldn't* post on the HP Museum Forum about Free42-related matters, if you want to be sure that I read what you post, you should (also) post on the Free42 group, where I get email notifications of every single post.

There's a clickable link to that group in the About Free42 window -- which is really easy to find thanks to the action bar. ;-)

The Free42 for Android is a wonderful app, and we are very lucky to have people like you around. When run on my (old) Samsung S4 it had an almost exact same size as the framed part of the orignal hp42s, waking it visually very pleasing to look at. The addition of the action bar cluttered the clean design and changed to aspect ratio, and looks a bit odd to old users. For me it is good news this will be optional.
Best regards